


What Brings You Around?

by MaggieP



Category: Green Day
Genre: Gen, Green Day - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-29
Updated: 2013-04-29
Packaged: 2017-12-09 21:41:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/778281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaggieP/pseuds/MaggieP
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>John Kiffmayer ( Al Sobrante) decides to go back to Califronia on his spring break to explain himself to Mike and Billie after leaving the band... without warning. One shot.  Mostly dialogue. John's POV.</p>
            </blockquote>





	What Brings You Around?

I knocked on the door hesitantly, and it felt like I was about to meet them for the very first time, like strangers. Music and laughter poured through the walls. It was late at night, but Mike and Billie never really paid attention to the law. 

I knocked again , louder this time.

The door cracked open, and my stomach curled up in a ball.   
It took me some time to recognize the guy with the long dreadlocks and the wide crooked smile, and he wasn't sure who he opened the door to either. As soon as we recognized each other, though, our facial expressions changed in a heartbeat.

I got terribly nervous.

His face turned into an ice cold mask, expressionless as a rock.

"Hey, Bil--"

"What do you want?" he cut me off abruptly. 

I opened my mouth to say something, but I didn't make any sound. He wasn't about to waste any time, but I had to talk to him. I held the door open with my hand before he got to slam it in my face.

"I need to talk to you." 

It hurt me to realize I had to plead him, beg him to listen to me. Did I hurt him that much? Did I overlook the potential of damaging his trust by leaving the band? 

His face was stiff, his gaze was lost. Then, to my relief, he rolled his eyes, and with a deep sigh, he held one hand up, and closed the door smoothly. 

I waited outside, just like he ordered me. 

"... with you?" I recognized Mike's voice between the fast guitars and loud vocals of Social Distortion when the door opened again.

"I can handle it." Billie answered.

Mike willing to help Billie.

I smiled at the fact that they hadn't changed at all.

He got out and passed me by. I followed him on the side walk, a few steps away from the basement they lived. He would't let me get as close as I would want to be. 

"So..." I said, breaking the awkward silence. "How are you?" 

He took a cigarette out of his pack and lit it up. 

"Good." he said, smoke pouring out of his mouth. 

"Cool... " Silence again. "College is a... pretty cool experience, you know?" I said, without him asking. "Hard and exhausting, but cool."

He nodded and flicked his cigarette, paying more attention to the ashes falling like comfeti on the concrete than to me.

"How's the band going?" I asked him. 

His whole body tightened at the sound of my words, like a knife had stabbed him to the bone. 

"We got a new drummer." he said before taking a deep puff from his cigarette. 

Typical Billie. Good guy, talented, but vengeful when it came to our-- well, his band. I didn't hide the fact that his words burnt me. 

I gulped and looked down at my shoes.

"Well... The guys at Gilman were right, I guess."

"Yeah..."

"Is he any good?"

His voice was a warning to back off. "He's fucking awesome." 

Of course he was. Mike and Billie-especially Billie- would never settle for anything less than perfect. He wouldn't settle for the moon if he could reach for the stars. 

And that scared me. 

"Rumor has it... That you guys are in talks with major labels." 

"Yes." 

"That's-That's... y'know... A little bit unlike you."

"Most of them are full of horseshit, but I think we got down to one guy who isn't that much of a cocksucker." 

He threw his cigarette on the road and stuck his hands in his pockets. 

"What did Larry say?" I ask.

"He was surprised. Not necessarily in a good way but, y'know... He trusts us." 

Us. How I had missed that. How I had missed being a part of 'us'. Green Day. 

"Billie..." I was choking. My chest was burning with regret but also the need to explain myself. "I'm sorry--"

It was the first time he looked me in the eyes that night. They were full of anger, sadness. "For what?" 

"I--"

"For WHAT, John? For leaving the band just like that? For letting us just... waiting for you without knowing absolutely nothing?"

"Billie, I loved the band as much as you do--"

"But what?"

"We are not sixteen anymore, man."

The muscle of his jaw shifted underneath the skin. Growing up was something Billie dreaded, scared the living piss out of him. 

"I know that." he said, bitterly. "But what does it have to do with what you did to us?"

I run my hands down my face, sighing. It was a long time since I'd had an argument with Billie, and I had forgotten how stubborn and determined he was to stand his own ground. 

"You don't understand, do you?"

"Help me, then, because I can't see the reason to drop out of a band without--"

"I had to go to college, godd--"

"WITHOUT telling us!" he roared. " Without giving us a clue of what we should do. Without even discussing about it. "

I hated seeing him this hurt.

"I'm sorry it happened that way."

"Do you know how terrible Mike and I felt when we found out about you leaving the band FROM SOMEBODY ELSE?" 

"I came here to tell you why I did this, and why it happened that way."

"Then go on. I'm all ears, John."  
He crossed his hands on his chest, waiting for me to answer. 

"I didn't want to upset you."

"Oh, sweetie!" his voice oozing sarcasm. "That was so cute of you. Because feeling like a total MORON was a lot better! Wow. Is that all you got?" 

"And I knew that you guys would do anything humanly possible to talk me out of going to college... And you would have succeded."

He frowned in disbelief and confusion.

"And what's wrong with that?!"

I knew that this would hurt a lot more than I had intended... But I had to be honest.

"I wanted to do something serious with my life."

I braced myself for his outburst.

"Serious?! Are you kidding me? You knew pretty damn well that Mike and I were dead serious about the band! You knew that the only way to get out of this band was to be rolled away in a fucking coffin! "

"Being in a band is all fun and nice and stuff but... Billie, let's be real here; what if that major label thing doesn't work out?"

"I couldn't care less. I'll go for it, win or lose."

"I know! It's nice to think like that when you're eighteen, nineteen, twenty... But one day you gotta pay the bills, feed a family. Watcha gonna do then?"

"I'll see when the time will come."

"You gotta do something with your life, man."

"This IS my life!" 

The tone of his voice. The shining of his eyes. The arms spread wide, ready to take over the world. 

He was dead serious about this. I felt it in every cell of my body. My skin prickled at the certainty of his voice. "It's do or die... I'm sorry this isn't your speed, but it's ours. So back. The fuck. Off." 

I nodded in retreat, pursing my lips. 

I turned around and walked to my car. Before I slid in, I took a last look at Billie. He had already walked half the way to their house. He didn't look back when he closed the door. 

I drove away and bitterness filled me. With a vengeful mind, I thought that they wouldn't last more than five minutes. That they would have their moment in the spotlight and then people would move on to their next favorite band.

Little did I know...


End file.
